History & Culture

Historic 1886 map of the Kīlauea caldera

Restoration of Indigenous Place Names

Place names can be more than just a place. These names can actually help to preserve a language and restore a culture.

A Native Hawaiian man with a fern lei poʻo

People

Humans have lived on, worshipped on, and studied the island's volcanoes for hundreds of years

Petroglyph field with a rainbow in the distance

Places

This sacred landscape is filled with important and historic cultural sites

Hula dancers dressed in yellow

Moʻolelo (Stories)

Stories, myths, legends, and part of the cultural fabric of Hawaiʻi

A painting of a volcanic eruption

Collections

The museum and archive collection at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park consists of over 31,000 objects

Steaming volcanic caldera

Special Centennial Publications

Read a series of publications on the history of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, produced for the park's 100th anniversary in 2016

Molten lava

Pele

Pelehonuamea, the Hawaiian volcano deity and creator of volcanic landscapes

Last updated: May 20, 2021

Contact the Park

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 52
Hawaii National Park , HI 96718

Phone:

808 985-6011

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